Transformative change for biodiversity is unavoidably political and requires the transformation of the economic sectors most responsible for biodiversity loss. However, until now, there have been no academic studies explicitly addressing the role of the textile, apparel, and fashion sector (TAF) in biodiversity loss or its dynamics of transformative change for biodiversity.
In our new paper, published in the International Journal of the Commons, we address this gap by exploratively mapping the main direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss in fashion’s supply chain activities and by identifying barriers for transformative change in the sector. Our results suggest that land-use change due to raw material production is the direct driver to which the industry contributes the most. Economic indirect drivers, i.e., material resource use intensification and the global and fragmented nature of fashion value chains, are the most influential for determining the intensity and distribution of the direct drivers. We identify seven barriers to biodiversity-positive transformative change: i) the ideology of perpetual growth, ii) fashion consumerism, iii) telecouplings, iv) rigid political boundaries, v) uncoordinated institutions and policies, vi) lack of understanding, human capital and measuring, and vii) poor availability of biodiversity-positive technologies. Furthermore, we identify the absence of attention to power relations and equity as a potential obstacle to transformative change for biodiversity in the sector. Rather than a systematic and conclusive research endeavour, we see this study as a starting point from which further discussions can be developed, to which we invite everyone to participate.
This paper is part of the special issue on Societal Transformations and Biodiversity co-edited by Agnes Z., Ilkhom Soliev and Alex Franklin, coordinators of the PLANET4B Project
gianluca brunori Daniele Vergamini PAGE - Pisa Agricultural Economics IPBES #Biodiversity #TransformativeChange #SustainableFashion #Degrowth #PLANET4B
https://lnkd.in/dMfvx7wi
